Jury reaches partial verdict in dog mauling case(Vote a verdict poll)

[sexybitchjenny]

Arrrrrroooooooo....

Is anyone following this case?

Do you think the owners of the dogs

should be held responsible for second degree manslaughter?

Read this article and Vote...

Jury reaches partial verdict in dog mauling case

LOS ANGELES,

California (CNN) -- A jury will continue deliberating Thursday in the case of a San Francisco couple whose dogs mauled a neighbor to death after reaching a decision on four of five counts.

On Wednesday Superior Court Judge James Warren directed the foreman to place the four verdicts in an envelope to be kept sealed overnight. The jury, when it reconvenes, could still change those verdicts, and none of the verdicts will be read until verdicts on all five counts are reached.

Robert Noel and his wife, Marjorie Knoller, face charges of involuntary manslaughter and keeping a mischievous animal that killed. Knoller, who was present at the attack, is also charged with second-degree murder.

The partial verdict came at the end of the second day of deliberations in the case, hours after the jury asked to rehear a portion of grand jury testimony delivered last year by Noel. In the passages requested by the jury, Noel discussed dog aggression and an incident involving a next-door neighbor who testified the dogs were a "menace."

A court reporter read the testimony to the jury behind closed doors; no one else was present.

Closing arguments in the dog mauling case see tempers rise as announcement of the verdict nears. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports (March 20)

Noel never testified at trial, and prosecutors said they were pleased the jury was looking closely at the only testimony he gave about the mauling.

"They do have one insight into his version of all these facts, and that was his sworn testimony by a lawyer, under oath, at the grand jury," said prosecutor Jim Hammer. "The jury will give that weight -- whatever they see fit."

Hammer and San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan said prosecutors were "encouraged" the jury had resolved four of the five counts.

"It seems to me that this jury is thinking, they're working through this," Hallinan said. The jury's plan to continue deliberating on the fifth count means the jurors aren't frustrated, but feel they can reach a verdict, he said.

Nedra Ruiz, Knoller's attorney, said her client is "legally blameless" and would never endanger anyone.

"She's hopeful and she's carrying her heart in her hands until the verdict comes in," Ruiz said. "It's an outrageous tragedy that has resulted in a long incarceration for Marjorie, and now she could face a life sentence for a tragic accident."

Deliberations began late Tuesday morning after almost four weeks of testimony. The most graphic parts of the trial included descriptions of the way the neighbor, Diane Whipple, 33, was attacked and bled to death in the apartment building hallway.

Whipple was returning to her apartment with groceries when Bane, the male dog, attacked her. The other dog, Hera, a female, was in the hallway at the time of the attack but it is unclear whether she took part. Both dogs have been destroyed.

Prosecutors have said the couple ignored signs their two 100-plus-pound Presa Canario dogs were dangerous, and said they failed to take proper steps to control the animals. According to prosecutors, there were more than 30 complaints made against the dogs, including one from Whipple two weeks before her death.

Defense attorneys contend Whipple's death was accidental and that the couple had no way to know their family pets would attack. They dispute the prosecution's description of the couple as "reckless."

Knoller faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted on all charges. Noel could be sentenced to as many as four years if convicted.

The grand jury testimony requested by the jury Wednesday dealt with neighbor Skip Cooley, who filed a complaint in August 2000 with the apartment manager after the dogs viciously barked throughout the night and scratched on the bare hardwood floors.

Cooley testified at the trial last month about several incidents in which the dogs showed aggressive behavior long before Whipple's death on January 26, 2001.

One time, he said, one of the dogs "sprang" at him and bared its teeth at him in "attack mode." Another time, he was sitting in his car and saw Knoller and Noel running across the parking garage, shouting at their dogs who were apparently running after another dog.

Taken from:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/03/21/dog.mauling.trial/index.html

[LavenderMenace]

Originally posted by sexybitchjenny

Both dogs have been destroyed.

Dont they mean KILLED??? They're dogs, not inanimate trash. God, I hate that.

anyway i dont know enough about the case to make a judgement on responsbility...

[beatz]

That's fucked up yo! I heard the owner THREW herself on the victim to save herfrom her dogs (Pictures of her all covered in Blood are on CNN) and they are blaming her for having dangerouse Dogs and shit!? The dogs are dead.

what else do they want? Sounds like the victim's family need someone to blame. Fucked up shit!

[darkfyre]

because it is not possible to hold animals accountable and responsible for their actions, that accountability and responsibility must be undertaken by their owner.

[mugwump]

Sometimes animals "snap" or have some external

thing beyond the master's control trigger a violent reaction..

I know this from many years of owning dogs

and training them. Even the most docile pup can flip a switch

under certain circumstances and become a mouth full of fangs!

Animals are like people in a lot of ways,

Who knows if these dogs might have suffered a

psychotic episode (Much as humans can) or

had a violent mood swing due to brain activities,

(Same as millions of humans that take Paxal, Xanex and the likes)..

I think holding the Owners accountable for an unexpected

sudden violent reaction of any animal is understandable ... but SECOND DEGREE MAN SLAUGHTER is a bit extreme

don't you think?

In a world where OJ SIMPSON walks free

and rapists live next door to children after

parole I think it's a bit much~

[wallflour]

The owners are guilty on all counts!

[mugwump]

Originally posted by wallflour

The owners are guilty on all counts!

Well, that's no surprise!

I still think the animals being put down

should have been enough.

I suppose they will now go to jail and

spend time next to someone who was caught

with a dime bag of weed in a club somewhere

and a schizophrenic undiagnosed mental patient that

drowned their kids under a psychotic episode.

Mean while Rapists, Murderers and REAL dealers

run free on the streets..

Well, glad to see the system's got it's priorities right!